“All of the biggest technological inventions created by man – the airplane, the automobile, the computer – says little about his intelligence, but speaks volumes about his laziness.”– Attributed to Mark Kennedy

In last week’s FTPL, we learned about Kahoot, an website that every student I have used Kahoot with, has loved. In today’s FTPL, I show you how to create a Kahoot.

I would like to point out that no matter how much fun students think Kahoot is, no matter how much you enjoy seeing students engaged with the Kahoot’s you use, it is still just a testing system. It’s aesthetically pleasing, it gives cues to create anxiousness and competitiveness in the participants (the music and countdown timers combined with the scoring and leader boards), you do not need to mark as it is done automatically; the list goes on. Despite all of these great features, however, it is still just a testing system, with all of the potential issues that can be found therein.

To view all of the articles in the FTPL series, click here. Alternatively, to view the structured playlists with these videos, click here.

“A good teacher, like a good entertainer first must hold his audience’s attention, then he can teach his lesson.”– Attributed to John Henrik Clarke

​I am taking a deviation from the recent videos with this one. Something a bit more fun to utilise, and still with some benefits educationally. This video shows you what Kahoot looks like, how to find Kahoots created by others. and how to preview them. A discussion of the benefits of them is included, though only briefly due to time. I will include more on that aspect in the next video on creating a Kahoot.

Yesterday I wrote an article about how I had begun to explicitly teach my Stage Two students about the internet, some of the terminology they will hear, how to get the most out of doing searches and some other fundamental skills. Whilst doing some research for the unit of learning I am beginning with my Stage Three students last night, I stumbled across a resource that will make teaching my Stage Two students about the internet a great deal easier than it otherwise might be.

This series of lessons is nicely constructed and affords the opportunity to discuss some ideas that I had not even considered, including the very first part of lesson one; asking the students what a browser is. Whilst, yes, there is the presumption that all students are digital natives, and it is true in so far as they are born into a world where digital devices and technology are largely ubiquitous, in regards to their level of familiarity and ability with those same devices, there is a vast array of ability and comfort levels. It is not just those of the older generations who hold some fears of technology.

Having spent some time reviewing the lessons, I think they are a very good fit for my students and a good starting point and will be using them, in conjunction with formative and summative assessment to check for my students’ pre-knowledge and misconceptions using a Kahoot quiz that I have generated based on the lesson.

​This is one of the things that I love about teaching now, as opposed to teaching twenty years ago; the internet makes the process of finding resources more efficient, and allows me to draw from a more diverse range of activities than my colleagues in decades past have had access to.

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter.”– Attributed to Nicolas Chamfort

As we approach the end of term, activity tends to wind down as loose ends are tidied up and teachers are reluctant to start anything new, knowing that there is a two week break coming up which will ruin any sort of flow. With that in mind, I took the opportunity today to visit a tool that I had heard about, and seen, but not utilised myself; Kahoot.​Rather than attempt to explain or describe what Kahoot is, here is a video showing you, thanks to Jason Cross over on YouTube.

I found and used a Digital Citizenship Kahoot with some of my classes today as slightly different form of assessment, and the students absolutely loved it. I completely underestimated how excited they would get by it. Even the simple fact of the screen changing colours was a source of amusement to them. The Kahoot generated some interesting conversation as there were some answers that were a bit nuanced and required them to be read properly.

A conversation with a colleague in the staffroom during the morning break led him look it up, and as I went back to the room I am using this week, I passed him room and saw a class full of highly engaged and motivated students, working in teams to complete the quiz. A small joy that a brief conversation could provide something useful to a colleague.​What was your source of small joy this week? What brought a smile to your face?